System for controlling printer and method of controlling printer

ABSTRACT

A printer control system that is provided with a print server capable of acquiring the state information of the printer controlled by the various sorts of protocol and a method of controlling the printer system are disclosed. The server is constructed with system control section, LAN/WAN communication control section, request processing section, printer information storing section, protocol processing section, and printer state acquiring section. The respective sections are connected to each other through the system bus. The state acquiring request is received by the LAN/WAN communication control section, and the communication control section notifies the printer state acquiring section, of the received request. The printer information storing section stores the access protocol to the printer in the printer information table. The protocol processing section performs the communication and the analysis of the respective protocols. The printer state acquiring section retrieves the protocol information stored in the printer information table. The state of the printer can be acquired by using the stored protocol.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of priority to Japanese PatentApplication No. JPAP10-259377 filed Aug. 28, 1998, the entire content ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a printer control system provided witha server for monitoring the state of the printer and a method ofcontrolling the printer and the printer system.

2. Description of the Background

Up through the present, there have been various protocols fordetermining the state of a printer from the printer side. As such, whenmultiple printers are monitored from a client personal computer, acorresponding number of monitoring tools are needed to effectivelydetermine the state of the printers. This approach is problematic interms of complexity of management as well as efficiency because as thenumber of printers on the network increase, so does the number of tools.In addition, if the printers are from different manufacturers, theproblem is compounded. In particular, problems with the user interfaceand operation of the multiple tools arise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Heretofore, the background art regarding a system for controlling theprinter and a method of controlling the printer is described. However,according to such background art, there exists no advantageousfunctional effect for such printer control system and method.

The present invention was made in order to solve the above-mentionedproblems. Therefore, some objects of the present invention are asfollows:

It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of thebackground art as mentioned heretofore.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a printercontrol system including a server for monitoring the state of theprinter.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a printercontrol system including a server capable of acquiring the stateinformation of the plural printers controlled by the various sorts ofthe protocols.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodof controlling the printer including a server for monitoring the stateof the printer.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodof controlling the printer including a server capable of acquiring thestate information of the plural printers controlled by the various sortsof the protocols.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the printercontrol system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the serverincluded in the printer control system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation according toan embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of the printerinformation table of the printer information storing part in a server,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In describing preferred embodiment of the present invention illustratedin the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake ofclarity. However, the present invention is not intended to be limited tothe specific terminology so selected, and it is to be understood thateach specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate ina similar manner.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and moreparticularly to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 thereof, the structure of a printercontrol system and a structure of the server that is included in theprinter control system, according to the present invention, areillustrated hereinafter in detail in conjunction with the embodimentthereof with reference to all of the accompanying drawings.

In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the first embodimentaspect of the present invention provides a printer control system, whichincludes a server. Further the printer control system includes multiplepersonal computers and multiple printers. The server, personalcomputers, and printers are connected to a common network.

The server includes a printer state acquisition requirement receivingsection for respectively receiving printer state acquisitionrequirements from the numerous personal computers, and a protocolinformation receiving section for receiving protocol informationemployed in the printers when the printer state acquisition requirementsare received by the printer state acquisition requirement receivingsection. Additional, the server possesses the following components: aprotocol analyzing section for analyzing respective protocols that arereceived by the protocol information receiving section; a printer stateinformation acquiring section for acquiring the state information of theplural printers on the basis of the respective protocols analyzed by theprotocol analyzing section; and a printer state information notifyingsection for notifying the state information of the printers acquired bythe printer state information acquiring section to the personalcomputer.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a printer controlsystem in which the server includes a storing section for storing theprotocol information that is analyzed by the protocol analyzing section.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a printer controlsystem in which if a printer employs a protocol not stored in thestoring section, the server further includes a protocol retrievingsection for retrieving the protocol. That is, the protocol retrievingsection retrieves one of the respective protocols based upon adetermination that the server cannot be accessed using any of the storedprotocols.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a printercontrol system in which, when the notification is performed by theprinter state acquisition requirement notifying section, the personalcomputers respectively include a printer designating section fordesignating one or more optional printers. In other words, each of thepersonal computers is configured to designate one or more of theplurality of printers as optional.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method ofcontrolling a printer by a server in a printer control system, whichincludes a server, personal computers, and printers. The server,personal computers, and printers are connected to each other over anetwork. The method includes the steps of receiving printer stateacquisition requirements from the personal computers, and receiving theprinter state acquisition requirement in the printer state acquisitionrequirement process, and at that time receiving the information employedin the plural printer. In addition, the method includes analyzingrespective protocols that are received in the process of receiving theprotocol information, acquiring the state information of the pluralprinters on the basis of the respective protocols that analyzed in theprocess of analyzing the protocols, and notifying the state informationof the printers acquired in the process of acquiring the stateinformation of the printers to the personal computer.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method ofcontrolling a printer, including the step of storing information on theprotocols that were analyzed in the process of analyzing the protocols.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method ofcontrolling a printer, including the step of retrieving the protocol,when the printer provided with the protocol not stored in the process ofstoring.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method ofcontrolling a printer, including designating one or more optionalprinters when the notification is performed in the process of notifyingthe printer state acquisition requirement. In other words, each of thepersonal computers is configured to designate one or more of theplurality of printers as optional.

The printer control system and method according to the present inventionis described hereinafter in detail, referring to the accompanyingdrawings attached hereto. In FIGS. 1 through 4, the embodiment of theprinter control system is illustrated.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the printer control systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1,a server 1 is connected to printers 2 and 3 over a local area network(LAN) 6 (or wide area network (WAN)). Client PCs 4 and 5 are alsoconnected to the LAN (or WAN) 6. In an exemplary embodiment, the LAN 6is an Ethernet network. It is apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart that other network implementations are possible.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the server,which is included in the printer control system according to anembodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the server 1 has asystem controlling section 11, a LAN/WAN communication control section12, a request processing section 13, a printer information storingsection 14, a protocol processing section 15, and a printer stateacquiring section 16. The above-mentioned respective sections areconnected to each other through a system bus 17.

The system control section 11 performs the fundamental control of theentire printer control system, for instance, memory control, etc. TheLAN/WAN communication control section 12 performs the control of thecommunication necessary to interface with network 6. The LAN/WANcommunication section 12 also receives the state acquiring request andinformation on the state of the printer, and supplies the protocolprocessing section 15 of such received information. The requestprocessing section 13 also receives the state acquiring request from theprotocol processing section 15 and forwards the request to the printerstate acquiring section 16.

The printer information storing section 14 stores the access protocol toaccess the printer in the printer information table 18. The protocolprocessing section 15 analyzes the respective protocols. The printerstate acquiring section 16 retrieves the protocol information that isstored in the printer information table 18 of the printer informationstoring section 14. Using the retrieved protocol the print stateacquiring section 16 acquires the state of the connected printer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation in the printer controlsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention. The LAN/WANcommunication control section 12 receive the state acquiring requestfrom either or both client PCs 4 and 5, and supplies the protocolprocessing section 15 with the received information (Step S1). Theprotocol processing section 15 then notifies the request processingsection 13 of the state acquiring request. In turn, the requestprocessing section 13 forwards the state acquiring request to theprinter State acquiring section 16. The printer state acquiring section16 determines whether the communication protocol information isregistered by the printer address key (Step S3). If the protocol isregistered (Step S3, YES), the printer state acquiring section 16initiates a state acquiring request to the protocol processing section15 in which an attempt to acquire the state using the registeredprotocol is made (Step S5). When the state of the printer cannot beacquired with the registered protocol (Step S7, NO), the retrieval ofthe protocol from the printer is performed (Step S4). Similarly, turningback to step S3, when the protocol is not registered, the printer stateacquiring section 16 retrieves the protocol (Step S4). With respect tostep S4, the retrieval request of the protocol involves the interactionbetween the printer state acquiring section 16 and the protocolprocessing section 15. In particular, the protocol processing section 15accesses the printer, which has the proper, operable protocol, toretrieve the protocol. The protocol processing section 15 then informsthe printer state acquiring section 16 of the operable protocol.

Upon obtaining knowledge of the protocol, the printer state acquiringsection 16 issues the printer state acquiring request to the protocolprocessing section 13, thereby acquiring the state of the printer (StepS6). In the step S6, the retrieved protocol information in registered inthe printer information table 18 of the printer information storingsection 14 (Step S8). The printer state acquiring section 16 notifiesthe request processing section 13 of the state (of the printer), afteracquiring the printer state. The request processing section 13 notifiesthe client PCs 4 and 5 of the printer state by using the protocolprocessing section 15.

FIG. 4 shows an example of data that is registered in the printerinformation table of the printer information storing part in the serveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4,the a table entry of the information table 18 includes the printeraddress and the protocol information. The information supported by theprinter is entered as protocol information. For instance, in the printerwith an address of 127.12.12.133, the communication control is governedby the protocol A. Likewise, the printer with address 127.12.12.115employs protocol B. Although the format of the printer address in theabove example conforms with the Internet Protocol (IP), any networkaddressing scheme can be utilized.

Thus, the protocol information retrieved and processed in the step S4shown in FIG. 3 is also written in the above-mentioned printerinformation table 18.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to the printercontrol system and the printer control method of the present invention,the protocol retrieval processing function resides within the server. Asthe result, the state can be supplied to a client PC. Under thisapproach, the user interface is improved.

Furthermore, according to the printer control system and the printercontrol method, the protocol of the printer that is accessed once isstored (in memory), and thus, the retrieval of the protocol of theprinter need not be performed again. As the result, the load imposed onthe network can be reduced, and the speed of the user interface isenhanced.

Furthermore, according to the printer control system and the printercontrol method, even if a printer that has been accessed once isreplaced by another printer, the former printer can be monitored.Therefore, the operability can be improved.

Furthermore, according to the printer control system and the printercontrol method, the user can designate the desired printer for theprinter state information, and therefore, only the necessary printerinformation can be displayed by the client PC.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described heretofore.However, obviously, other numerous embodiments or numerous modificationsor variations of the invention are possible in light of the aboveteachings, It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope ofthe appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than asspecifically described herein.

Having now fully described the invention, it will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can bemade thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth herein.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the presentinvention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is thereforeto be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically describedherein.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ifthe United States is:
 1. A system for controlling a printer comprising:a plurality of personal computers connected to a network; a plurality ofprinters connected to the network, each of the plurality of printersutilizing a respective protocol to communicate, in part, with thepersonal computers; and a server connected to the network, wherein theserver includes: (1) a communication control section configured toreceive a printer state acquisition requirement message from each of thepersonal computers; (2) a protocol processing section configured toreceive protocol information in response to the printer stateacquisition requirement message, the protocol information including arespective protocol that is utilized by each of the plurality ofprinters; (3) a protocol analyzing section configured to analyzerespective protocols received by the protocol processing section; and(4) a printer state acquiring section configured to acquire stateinformation of the printers selectively utilizing the respectiveprotocols, wherein the state information is sent to the respectivepersonal computers.
 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the serverfurther comprises a storing section configured to store the protocolinformation.
 3. A system according to claim 2, wherein the serverfurther comprises a protocol retrieving section configured to retrieveone of the respective protocols that is not stored.
 4. A systemaccording to claim 3, wherein the protocol retrieving section retrievesone of the respective protocols based upon a determination that theserver cannot be accessed using any stored protocols.
 5. A systemaccording to claim 3, wherein the protocol retrieving section retrievesone of the respective protocols based upon a determination that theserver cannot be accessed using any stored protocols.
 6. A systemaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the personal computers isconfigured to designate one or more of the plurality of printers asoptional.
 7. A system according to claim 2, wherein each of the personalcomputers is configured to designate one or more of the plurality ofprinters as optional.
 8. A system according to claim 3, wherein each ofthe personal computers is configured to designate one or more of theplurality of printers as optional.
 9. A system according to claim 4,wherein each of the personal computers is configured to designate one ormore of the plurality of printers as optional.
 10. A system according toclaim 5, wherein each of the personal computers is configured todesignate one or more of the plurality of printers as optional.
 11. Amethod of controlling a printer comprising the steps of: receiving aprinter state acquisition requirement message from a plurality ofpersonal computers; receiving protocol information from a plurality ofprinters in response to the printer state acquisition requirementmessage, the protocol information including a respective protocol thatis utilized by each of the plurality of printers; analyzing therespective protocols; acquiring state information from the plurality ofprinters by selectively utilizing the respective protocols; andsupplying the state information to the respective personal computers.12. A method according to claim 11, further comprising storing theprotocol information.
 13. A method according to claim 12, furthercomprising retrieving one of the respective protocols that is notstored.
 14. A method according to claim 12, further comprisingretrieving one of the respective protocols based upon a determinationthat the server cannot be accessed using any stored protocols.
 15. Amethod according to claim 13, further comprising retrieving one of therespective protocols based upon a determination that the server cannotbe accessed using any stored protocols.
 16. A method according to claim11, further comprising designating one or more of the plurality ofprinters as optional.
 17. A method according to claim 12, furthercomprising designating one or more of the plurality of printers asoptional.
 18. A method according to claim 13, further comprisingdesignating one or more of the plurality of printers as optional.
 19. Amethod according to claim 14, further comprising designating one or moreof the plurality of printers as optional.
 20. A method according toclaim 15, further comprising designating one or more of the plurality ofprinters as optional.
 21. A system for controlling a printer comprising:a plurality of personal computers connected to a network; a plurality ofprinters connected to the network, each of the plurality of printersutilizing a respective protocol to communicate, in part, with thepersonal computers; and a server connected to the network, wherein theserver includes: (1) a communication control means for receivingrespectively a printer state acquisition requirement message from eachof the personal computers; (2) a protocol processing means for receivingprotocol information in response to the printer state acquisitionrequirement message, the protocol information including the respectiveprotocol that is utilized by each of the plurality of printers; (3) aprotocol analyzing means for analyzing the respective protocols receivedby the protocol processing section; and (4) a printer state acquiringmeans for acquiring the information of the printers by selectivelyutilizing the respective protocols, wherein the state information issent to the respective personal computers.
 22. A system according toclaim 21, wherein the server further comprises a storing means forstoring the protocol information.
 23. A system according to claim 22,wherein the server further comprises a protocol retrieving means forretrieving one of the respective protocols that is not stored.
 24. Asystem according to claim 23, wherein the protocol retrieving meansretrieves one of the respective protocols based upon a determinationthat the server cannot be accessed using any stored protocols.
 25. Asystem according to claim 23, wherein the protocol retrieving meansretrieves one of the respective protocols based upon a determinationthat the server cannot be accessed using any stored protocols.
 26. Asystem according to claim 21, wherein each of the personal computers isconfigured to designate one or more of the plurality of printers asoptional.
 27. A system according to claim 22, wherein each of thepersonal computers is configured to designate one or more of theplurality of printers as optional.
 28. A system according to claim 23,wherein each of the personal computers is configured to designate one ormore of the plurality of printers as optional.
 29. A system according toclaim 24, wherein each of the personal computers is configured todesignate one or more of the plurality of printers as optional.
 30. Asystem according to claim 25, wherein each of the personal computers isconfigured to designate one or more of the plurality of printers asoptional.